


Retour Sirene

by lucdarling (orphan_account)



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-02
Updated: 2012-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-28 17:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/310199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/lucdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers all know that Clint spent some time in the circus, but he has skills beyond the impalement arts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Retour Sirene

**Author's Note:**

> written for [this prompt](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/3266.html?thread=1497794#t1497794) at [avengerkink](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/)

Steve knew Clint had a background in the circus and that he'd worked in one for a number of years. He sat through the men riding on elephants (and told Thor he couldn't have one) and his jaw dropped at the sheer amount of danger the lion tamers put themselves in (Natasha looked entranced by the bull whip and Steve did not want to know.) but Clint didn't make an appearance when the target board was wheeled out. It was a younger man; Steve applauded when he successfully performed the William Tell trick with a throwing knife but privately thought his teammate was far more skilled. Natasha's face clearly reflected the same thought pattern.

The Avengers were at the circus on the outskirts of a small New York town, invited through a simple card left on the fridge. Steve couldn't help but laugh at the clown's antics and the way they seemed to defy physics by fitting so many in the tiny car.

The show was almost over and there had been no sign of the marksman. Steve's eye caught on the way Natasha lifted her head up to stare at the top of the tent and he looked up. A shadowy figure stood at the end of a platform, stretching with familiar motions.

The ringmaster got the crowd riled up for what must have been the hundredth time and yelled into the microphone. “And now for our last act, Cara and Clint on the flying trapeze!”

Steve watched with bated breath as his teammate swung over the audience, hands holding onto a small wooden bar. He swung back towards the platform, lifting his legs parallel to the ropes so they wouldn't hit the edge and swung away again to open space. Clint's legs slid between his chest and the bar, hooking over the wood as a woman launched herself off the opposite platform. Clint dangled from the trapeze, hands outstretched beneath him as the woman did a split over the top of the bar.

Cara slid off the trapeze and through the air, Clint catching her hands as she flew past. The audience cheered and they swung back and forth. Cara landed on the lower platform with a flip and Clint swung out a final time, dangling from his hands before he landed on the platform he'd left.

The two flew off the platforms a second time, rocking their bodies with the motions of the trapeze. Clint flipped himself over the wooden bar, legs together in a handstand before he dropped while Cara twisted herself up and over so she was standing on the trapeze. She somersaulted into the air and Clint grabbed her to the sound of more joyous screams. Steve watched as Cara lifted her leg flush with Clint's arm and the man wrapped his hand around her ankle so she was being held from only her right arm and leg. The two swung out and then back, Cara's arm outstretched to meet her trapeze bar.

They landed on opposite platforms a minute later and Steve clapped loudly. The two went out for a third time, both hooked onto the wooden bars with one leg. Cara first pulled herself up to sit on it like a swing as Clint followed suit and the rest of the circus trotted out beneath them to bow before the curtains shut.

Steve looked at Thor and Natasha with an open mouth. The woman was sitting quietly, staring at where Clint had been on the trapeze with a calculating look; the god was visibly stunned.

“He is very brave, to fly through the air.” Thor commented and Steve nodded his assent.

“Did you know he could do that?” Steve asked the redhead who had gone from staring at the curtain to tracking the movements of the people leaving the ring.

“It explains some things,” Natasha said as she stood. “Now let's go remind Clint he is no longer a circus carnie but an Avenger.”

Steve hid a small smile at the jealousy in her otherwise bland voice.

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from the name of the trick Clint & Cara perform last, the [retour sirene](http://www.flying-trapeze.com/tricks/Angel-Return.html)


End file.
